The Story of a New Name, Daring Greatly, and the new Rick Riordan book, Magnus Chase--which takes place in Boston. :) If we'd stayed a few more hours I could've gone to the author's book signing! Drat! Since I did so much walking in Boston, my shins are not pleased with me--I get shin splints really easily. So today I'll be reading and putting some ice on the cranky body parts. But it's totally worth it.

In Boston, I read Bird by Bird and Big Magic--both of which were excellent. I might have to re-read them both before NaNo kicks off. I especially enjoyed the parts that talk about publishing--and how getting rejection letters doesn't mean your work sucks! That's helpful, as I look at the following....

Writing::

The Manuscript is being delivered TODAY!!!!! Eekkk! Then the three month counter kicks off. (That's about how long they say it takes for them to evaluate a manuscript.) NaNo starts next month, so I'm thinking about what I want this year's novel to be about. So far, nothing is hitting me yet, except last year's NaNo novel, that I had to abandon, because it wasn't working. I think this year I might have a way of making it work, but it may require starting from scratch, which would work for NaNo15!

Boston::

OK, so I don't want to do all Boston Palooza on you here--I'm going to spread it out over the week. So we can have Pretty Funny Happy Real Boston Edition, and then some Seven Quick Takes, Boston edition. However, I will talk about Jeopardy, here, because that's what we all care about right? :)

Boston harbor, as seen from our hotel room

The audition works like this: You go in, you get a polaroid taken, and then you are called into the audition room. In Boston, they divided us up into two groups--in NYC, we all went in as one group. You are instructed in the ways of the contestant pool--how you got picked, what's going to happen today, and what's going to happen after. We're in the contestant pool for 18 months, so until April 4, 2017. About 100,000 people take the online test, and from that, about 1000-3000 are selected for the second round of auditions. From there, 400 people are called to be contestants on the show. We were reminded many times to be loud and enthusiastic--two things I never have trouble with, ever.

From there, we had a 50 question test--50 questions flashed on a screen, and you had eight seconds to answer each question (you wrote the answer down on a lined answer sheet). On the online test, you have 30 seconds to answer each question. After that, the tests are collected and graded, and then three people are called up at a time to play a practice round and be interviewed. The practice rounds and interviews are videotaped.

I was in the first group called up. So we played a "round"--the game board was on a screen and we got to pick categories and everything, just like on the show, and we used the buzzers (more about those later this week, and How Crazy They Are). After that, you are interviewed, and I was interviewed second. Yes, you are interviewed in front of everyone. We were asked what we would use the money we won for, what we did, etc. Nothing really difficult--it was mostly for personality purposes.

No, you do not find out how you did on the audition. But you just might get a random call summoning you to LA for taping.

The paper will be finished this week--my insurance stuff and tax materials are stored downstairs, and those have been sorted already, and are good to go. In the office are my other sorts of papers that I probably don't need and can toss.

After paper comes the category of "Komodo", which is a Japanese term for miscellany, and in Kondo's book, it means:

CDs

DVDs

Toiletries

makeup

accessories (non clothes)

valuables

electronics and appliances

household items and supplies

kitchen goods/food

and Other: hobbies and such, so for me that's knitting, my music books, board games etc.

You can see this is a BIG category and will probably take awhile. But after this there are only three more categories: Small change, sentimental items, and photos.

I've already done the CDs, because those went with the Books to Half-Price, and I've done a lot of the DVDs, for the same reason, but I'm sure there are still some I can put in the sell/donate pile.

This week::

Like I said, here on the blog we'll have several Boston reports, so you can look forward to that. In other news, I have a dentist appointment, the first BalletMet performance of the season (yay!), the Pirates Wild Card game against the Cubs tomorrow, and a Lay Dominican retreat all weekend! Whew!

Welcome!

Hi! I'm Emily. I'm glad you're here!

I'm a 13 year double lung transplant survivor, cradle Catholic, and dedicated bibliophile. I'm a writer/editor/researcher for Take Up & Read. Cooking, knitting, music, travel, and writing are a few of my favorite things.

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ROOTED IN HOPE, Take Up $ Read’s Advent study, is now available! Click to purchase.

This ornament was a special art project in junior high. We got to use some sort of cool metallic paint!

One of mom and dad’s outdoor wreaths.

Gooood morning y’all! The only shopping I do on #blackfriday is at bookstores—how about you? In that vein, my ebook, #catholic101 is on sale!! It also makes a great gift :) read all about the book and buy it at the link in my profile! #sale #books #smallbusinesssaturday #shopsmall

Candy cane lane tea in my hedgehog Christmas mug=working fuel!

Today on the blog, I’m talking about how it feels when people say they want “healthy babies”, and that God is good only when He does what you want. I know most people aren’t being rude when they say these things....but I think it’s worth looking a little deeper. Link in profile. Photo is from @ericakayphotography (taken during my brother and SIL’s wedding. Isn’t it gorgeous?)